Weekly Photo Challenge: Masterpiece

Every time I take a trip, I find I am drawn to photographing one particular thing over and over. In Beijing, it was the roofs of Forbidden City. I won’t bore you with all 30 photos I took. These three should be enough. To me, the beauty and architecture is a masterpiece.

The animals on the roof are symbols in Chinese myth, used here to protect the emperors and bring good luck to the palace. Most of the imperial palace roofs are yellow, considered an imperial color. The number of animals on the roof shows the seniority of occupants of the building. The greater the number, the higher the positon. Highest possible status imperial roof decoration – man riding bird, nine beasts, immortal figure, and dragon. Yep – I got a picture of that, too.

See more examples of masterpieces here. And be sure to tell us about your own!

Thanks, letizia. I didn’t start out with the intent, but then it happened. My mother actually did this first when we went to San Francisco and she started taking pictures of doors. The pictures and the concept were so interesting to me that I started trying to duplicate the idea.

Love the idea! When I went to Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas one time, I focused on Lederhosen shots. It was fun, because part of the challenge was sneaking up and taking shots from the knee down when the guys weren’t looking.

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